The Holy Ground Project: Choose a spot on the grounds to visit and look closely, to see nature at work. Visit it every couple of weeks this spring and beyond to see how it changes. Take a stake from the Gathering Area to mark your spot. You can borrow a magnifying glass to look closely. If walking outside is hard for you, choose one of the squares on our windows to look out of, and notice the advancing spring that way. This project is an invitation from our Creation Care Task Force, in the spirit of our mission to cultivate love of God’s creation.
THIS WEEKEND…
Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, March 31, 6pm: Due to weather, we canceled last month’s event, so we will be meeting at Amber Indian Restaurant at 6913 University Avenue in Middleton. Please come join us for good food and good conversation.
Architects’ On-Site Design Process, Sunday, April 2: On April 2nd, the next part of our planning and design process with Engberg Anderson Architects will take place right under our roof here at St. Dunstan’s! Beginning at 9AM that morning, and continuing into the early afternoon, architects from EA will set up shop in our building in the Meeting Room. They will be working on concept drawings and sketches for different ways in which the various ideas generated by all of you over the last several weeks can best be incorporated into our building – whether by renovating the space we have, or by looking at modest ways to expand it as needed. The process promises to be interesting, a bit messy, and a lot of fun! Bill and Mike, and members of your Discernment committee, hope you will take the time to stop by, see what they are working on, ask questions and share your comments on their work. The more input they get from the members of St. Dunstan’s, the better their work will reflect our goals, dreams, and the mission of our parish. Make plans to allow time for a visit, either before leaving church, or by returning later in the day.
Birthdays and Anniversaries will be honored and Healing Prayers will be given this Sunday, April 2, as is our custom on the first Sunday of the month.
MOM Special Offering, Sunday, April 2: This Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry. Here are the current top-ten, most needed items: canned meat, all types; shelf stable milk; quinoa, barley, other whole grains; salt, pepper, spices; protein/granola bars; low sugar canned/dried fruit; cooking oil/olive oil; honey or sugar; laundry detergent; toilet paper & paper towels. Thank you for all your support!
Maundy Thursday Meal Sign-up: Our Maundy Thursday liturgy (April 13, 6pm) includes a shared meal as we remember Jesus’ final meal with his friends before his crucifixion. Sign up in the Gathering Area to contribute lentil soup, hummus, olives, or other items. Thanks for all your offerings!
Night watch Vigil Sign-Up: From 9pm – midnight on Thursday, April 13, following our Maundy Thursday service, and from 6am – noon on Good Friday, April 14, members of St. Dunstan’s will keep a vigil of prayer in the church, in pairs. Sign up in the Gathering Area for your desired shift. Talk with Connie Ott with any questions.
Evening Eucharist, Sunday, April 2, 6pm: Join us for a simple service before the week begins. All are welcome.
Looking for Coffee Hosts for Easter and for April 30, 2017! Please consider being a coffee host. We especially need people for Easter and the last Sunday in April. Contact Janet Bybee for more information.
Looking for Greeters: Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It’s off to work we go! Well it’s really not work, more like fun. We’re looking for some of you who might be interested in Greeting on Sunday mornings at the 10am service. Let Bernice Mason know.
THE WEEKS AHEAD…
Stations of the Cross & Supper, Thursday, April 6, 5:30pm: All are invited to come walk the Stations of the Cross in our nave at St. Dunstan’s, sharing Scripture, prayer, song, and meditations from Christian tradition. We will share a simple meal after praying the Stations. This event is this week’s Sandbox worship, our regular Thursday evening gathering.
The Stations of the Cross in Downtown Madison, Friday, April 7, 12pm: Walk the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross on the streets of a modern city. As we walk the fourteen traditional Stations of the Cross, we will reflect together on how we can trace those events in the geography of Madison today – our issues, stories and struggles. We will start on the sidewalk near Way of the Cross Park, at the corner of Henry , across from the Overture Center, and end in the garden at Grace Church on the square. The total walk will be about 1.5 miles, and it takes about 1 hour. All are welcome. If you would like to read one of the stations, email the Rev. Miranda Hassett at .
Palm Saturday, Saturday, April 8, 11am-12pm: Kids, parents, grandparents and friends are invited to make Easter Crafts and communion bread, and to take part in a gentle, age-appropriate and participatory telling of the whole Easter story, presented by the youth and adults of our church. This event is best suited for kids ages 3 to 10; our Middle Schoolers are invited to help present the Easter pageant. All are welcome!
Palm and Passion Sunday, April 9, 8 and 10am: We begin our liturgy with a Palm Procession, recalling Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, then proceed to the reading of the Passion Gospel according to Mark. This is a solemn and powerful service, and our doorway into Holy Week.
Sunday School, Sunday, April 9, 10am: This Sunday, our 3 year olds to kindergarten class will learn about the Faces of Easter, while our Elementary classes will explore Palm and Passion Sunday.
Gospel of John Study Group, Wednesday nights, March 8 – April 26, omitting Holy Week, 6:30-8:30pm at the McAlpine’s: This year the Daily Office Lectionary has us reading the Gospel of John from the last week of Epiphany through the second week of Easter. If you’d like to read it and reflect on it with others, there is still room in the study group hosted by the McAlpines in Fitchburg. Please call the office at 608-238-2781 for more information.
Madison-Area Julian Gathering, April 12, 1:00-2:45 PM (NOTE TIME CHANGE): Julian of Norwich was a 15th Century English mystic and anchoress. [In the Middle Ages, certain women and men chose to live a life intensely devoted to prayer permanently enclosed in a small room, called an anchorhold, attached to a parish church.] Little is known about Julian’s life, but she wrote a book, as far as we know the first in English written by a woman, about a series of revelations which opened her to the depths of God’s unconditional love for us in Jesus Christ. Thomas Merton called her “the greatest theologian for our time.” At a Julian Gathering we support each other in the practice of contemplative prayer and contemplative spirituality. Each meeting includes time for contemplative prayer, fellowship, and reading/discussion of Julian’s book.
HOLY WEEK SCHEDULE
Sunday, April 9 – Palm & Passion Sunday
Thursday, April 13, 6pm: Maundy Thursday Meal & Worship
Offerings will go to Briarpatch Youth Services.
Friday, April 14 – Good Friday
12pm, 4pm & 7pm Good Friday services
Children are encouraged to attend the 4pm service.
Offerings will go to the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
Saturday, April 15 – Holy Saturday
8pm: Great Vigil of Easter. Light incense will be used.
A portion of our offerings will go to Episcopal Relief & Development.
Sunday, April 16 – Easter Sunday
Egg hunt for children follows both 8am & 10am services
Light incense will be used at the 10am service.
Men’s Book Club, Saturday, April 22, 10am: The book is All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren. Warren wrote the book in 1946 to enormous critical acclaim and won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1947. It’s about Huey Pierce Long, Jr., self-nicknamed The Kingfish, who was an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Louisiana from 1928 to 1932 and as a member of the United States Senate from 1932 until his death from assassination in 1935. There is something about Huey, his combination of magnificent abilities and a genuine if primitive idealism with bottomless corruption and lust for power, which fascinates the literary was well as the political mind.
Outreach meeting, Saturday, April 29, 8-10am: All are welcome to join our conversations about how St. Dunstan’s can best serve the world with our resources and our hands. We begin with an optional potluck breakfast at 8am.